hell strip
n.— «That comes with the territory on hell strips, the phrase some people use to describe the section of soil between the sidewalk and the street. It’s tough growing there, yet that’s exactly where certain die-hard gardeners are digging flower beds.» —“Green thumbs work magic on hell strips” by Marty Hair Detroit Free Press (Michigan) July 30, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Imagine telling someone how to get to your home, but without using the name of your street, or any other street within ten miles. Could you do it? We take street names for granted, but these words are useful for far more, like applying for a job or...
People might never know that quality jazz exists outside the city of Baton Rouge. Which may be true—but it’s also a pangram. This is part of a complete episode.
Related
This is a version of the “Devil Strip”…an expression peculiar to Toledo Ohio in my experience. The legend is that you weren’t supposed to play there as it’s where the streetcar steps would sweep along as they passed by, slicing up hapless bystanders.
The Dictionary of American Regional English agrees with you. It has “devil strip” with the same meaning as you give, marks it as “chiefly northeast Ohio” and dates it to at least as early as 1957. It does not, however, have “hell strip.”